Chapter 74
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Rage at Injustice
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Having escaped the lair of the anomalies, the Fixer and the Response Team agents arrived on the fifth floor in a peaceful atmosphere.
A place that shouldn't have been peaceful felt all too serene, which only made it seem alien and suspicious instead.
The Response Team felt an eerie disconnect, wondering if some new trap had been set on the fifth floor, and grew unnecessarily anxious.
"Isn't it weird how it's too quiet now?"
"Yeah, coming from a place swarming with anomalies and overgrown with grass everywhere... it does feel off. Maybe they've set up some kind of trap."
"R-right... Like the Fixer said, it feels like they've prepared something... It's making me uneasy for no reason."
"The motion detectors aren't picking up anything. Based on the info we have, this floor is safe."
At Agent An Jae-seong's words, Park Jae-hyeon and Yoon Ha-seo made a fuss, suggesting that instead of anomalies, something else might have been prepared.
But contrary to their expectations, the fifth floor really was safe.
There were no traps, no threatening apparitions.
It was exactly as the rundown exterior of the One Heart True Intent Apartments had appeared from outside.
As if everything that had happened just moments ago had been nothing but a fleeting daydream, the fifth floor showed no trace of anomalies—not even grass growing on the walls or floors.
"It feels like we were dreaming."
The ordinary scene of a standard apartment complex prompted the Fixer to deduce why the enemy had restored the fifth floor to normal.
"Looks like they want us to get out."
"You mean they're scared and trying to chase us away?"
"That's the most likely explanation."
The Fixer let out a hollow chuckle at the apparition's ploy.
They'd been so desperate to kill the Response Team earlier, but the moment they judged they couldn't win, they tucked tail and normalized the area.
Even erasing the Reverse Mandala's distortion as if begging them to leave the building quickly—it was too ridiculous not to laugh.
"Guess we're pretty scary to them, huh?"
"They should be scared. They toyed with human lives. Time to make them pay dearly."
"Right? The Fixer is spot on. We need to make them pay dearly."
Park Jae-hyeon and Yoon Ha-seo stoked their resolve while gazing at the fifth-floor scenery.
Nothing boosts morale quite like an enemy you thought unbeatable tucking tail.
-The evil ones are tucking tail, rolling over, and begging for mercy.
Hong Lan, who had shown visceral disgust toward the plant-type anomalies, also mocked most of the dream placenta.
No matter how cosmic a horror an apparition claimed to be, it might instinctively recoil at the prospect of total annihilation.
The key point was that the Fixer and Response Team had no intention of simply slipping away.
'Now that I know what Eve wants, I have to reach the tenth floor.'
From the fifth floor onward, the log no longer indicated the path forward.
The possessors from other worlds probably hadn't reached the tenth floor of the One Heart True Intent Apartments either—or if they had, they hadn't bothered leaving a record.
"It's the first apparition I've seen that's too afraid to face us. Makes my courage surge."
"Great! Let's find the way up!"
The Fixer left the agents burning with zeal and surveyed the fifth floor.
He needed to find a way to the seventh floor. The woman in the elevator was likely passing the sixth and heading to the eighth.
The Fixer had to bypass the seventh to reach the ninth, then meet on the tenth-floor boundary zone to shatter the Reverse Mandala and open the path to the fourth.
'The easiest way to the seventh... Ask the former residents of this apartment to guide us. But will they cooperate?'
📛 Name:Soul of the Departed
⚠️ Danger Level:Caution
🏷️ Classification:Thoughtform, Site-Bound Spirit, Wandering Ghost
📜 Basis:Ghosts wandering the living world, unable to pass to the afterlife
🛡️ Exorcism Method:Perform a ritual or resolve their grudges
A far greater number of ghosts than on the first floor crammed the hallway, pressed so tightly together that space was lacking.
Like a packed Monday morning subway, they were half-entwined with one another.
"Fixer! What are you doing over there!"
"Oh, just thinking for a moment."
The Response Team agents passed by without seeing the stray ghosts, but to the Fixer's eyes, they were vividly clear.
They seemed desperate not to touch the agents or Fixer, shoving each other to stay as far from the Response Team's path as possible.
Their expressions were contorted like those of terrified people, deathly afraid of outsiders.
'From their perspective, staying in this apartment is torment too. Leaving it is just as hard. They've lost their will. They're literally... lost souls.'
As the Fixer observed the listless apparitions, he realized this wasn't just a matter of pitying their plight and moving on.
Even after the incident resolved, they'd remain in that apathetic state. Nothing could be protected or changed like that. It was time for improvement.
Such thoughts had just crossed his mind when a quest appeared before the Fixer.
Awaken the Souls Who Have Lost Their Will
It was a quest to fix the ghosts' shattered spirits.
An additional objective for the quest to purify the corrupted One Heart True Intent Apartments.
'You sure ask a lot of me.'
The Fixer grumbled anew at whatever entity had issued this quest.
He sensed some vast will at work.
It went beyond merely purifying the apartments, seemingly desiring the place to function properly even after all incidents concluded.
It had been the same during the demon exorcism. Sending him to the Wuyuan Heart Palace. Directing him to Mujin Mountain.
This One Heart True Intent Apartment purification quest was no different.
The nagging thought persisted: problems arose, places teetered on collapse, and he was sent to fix them.
'Well, not bad.'
The Fixer accepted the quest. He'd planned to bully the ghosts into revealing the way forward anyway.
But with the quest issued, he'd seize the chance to educate these failed guardians and use them to open the path faster.
"Hold on, everyone gather up."
"Wait, have you already found a way to the next floor?"
"Yes. A very innovative one."
"Innovative?"
"Indeed. We're going to seek some spiritual assistance from now on."
The Fixer informed the agents that an enormous horde of ghosts lurked around them.
"Is that true...? I didn't sense a thing..."
"It is. Their danger level is minimal. They don't want to be seen by us, so naturally, you can't."
"U-uwah!"
Agent Yoon Ha-seo flipped down the green visor on her hazmat helmet for spirit detection and clung to the Fixer in terror.
Navigating grass-overgrown spaces and fighting plant-type anomalies had made wearing the visor cumbersome.
Plus, with physical anomalies as primary foes, there'd been no need to check for spirits.
"All these ghosts are built-in residents of the One Heart True Intent Apartments. Site-bound spirits functioning as a sort of defense."
"So many..."
"My guess is the apartment tried the audacious scheme of housing lost souls in exchange for using them as security. Of course, it's a total failure now."
Human will might backfire, so they'd been left to guard voluntarily—but that freedom only led to dissipation.
"Time to showcase one of my specialties here."
"The Fixer's specialty? Smashing things?"
"No, that's not a specialty..."
Regardless of others' views, the Fixer considered his true specialty "turning naughty ghosts good."
"I'm about to set up a ritual table, so agents, head to empty apartments and grab foodstuffs, alcohol, and any wooden trays you find."
"Got it, Fixer."
"Booze, trays for the ritual, and edibles, right?"
"Yes. Nothing spoiled or off—absolutely. Oh, there must be incense and ritual vessels somewhere on the fifth floor. Bring them all. We need a properly traditional setup."
The Fixer assigned tasks to the agents, spread out a spot, and pondered how to awaken the fifth floor's lost souls.
'How do I persuade these listless NEET ghosts? Offer them power? A simplified Shrine Oath could temporarily bind stray ghosts as retainers. It doesn't have to be permanent. As long as I don't break rules too badly... Heaven will turn a blind eye.'
While the Fixer devised a plan, the agents grabbed tools, broke into fifth-floor apartments, and casually committed burglary and trespassing. They hauled out the requested items.
Compensation later made it guilt-free.
"Fixer! Got all the items you mentioned!"
"Trays and unrotted fruit too."
"Good. Let's set the table."
Under the ghosts' gazes, the Fixer and agents arranged the offerings, stuffing a jar full of rice grains, inserting incense, and lighting it.
Hungering ghosts were drawn by the wafting incense, gradually gathering around the ritual table.
Since all residents had died or been dragged away, the souls had no source of sustenance and were famished.
Thus, they naturally approached the Fixer's spread.
"Hold it!"
The Fixer unhesitatingly stopped the ghosts reaching for the offerings.
He even denied them food right before their eyes, then bellowed at them outright.
The Fixer had no intent to gently persuade or plead.
"There's no such thing as free food in this world! And if there's no free food, obviously no free housing either. Got it? You don't deserve to eat this meal. And you don't deserve to stay here."
At the Fixer's words, the ghosts approaching the table hesitated and retreated.
He was right. No free houses. No free food. Nothing's free in this world.
To gain something, one must labor or pay accordingly.
That's the law of the world. The Fixer shouted that simple truth.
"Why aren't you all crawling out of this apartment? I'm telling you, you don't belong here! I gave you a spot to protect the residents, and now it feels like a free handout center to you? Have some shame."
The Fixer hurled insults at the souls, scolding and berating them.
Why loaf around doing nothing?
Why hide instead of helping residents as they died?
Why watch idly as it became an anomaly den?
As the Fixer's condemnations grew, so did the souls' rising anger.
"You've been living here for free in the One Heart True Intent Apartments. Without even paying rent! You even shirked your duty as live-in security for comfort and ease. Look at the result. You lost your home. And the residents died or broke."
They could no longer bear listening.
Because...
His words were facts.
Bone-chilling truths.
Shoving the reality they'd averted squarely at them.
To change, sometimes one must face unwanted truths.
This was the process of venting the souls' grudges.
Anger is a vital emotion. Those who don't rage don't fight.
The Fixer awakened anger in those crushed by helplessness.
-We too...
-Tried...
-Tried to fight...
-But no strength...
Grievances and resentful murmurs arose from all around.
The Fixer had successfully elicited reactions from the utterly will-less souls.
"No. You haven't truly tried yet. Just excuses? So, you'll give up fighting and stay here?"
-But we're...
-Powerless...
Amid the ghosts' negative outbursts, a particularly wretched-looking soul approached the Fixer and spoke.
-How... to fight... We lack the power... As you see... We're too weak...
At those words, the Fixer's lips curled slightly.
Hook, line, and sinker. The number claiming powerlessness exploded exponentially.
Excuses masquerading as excuses.
Lack of power meant willingness to fight if empowered.
"What if I could let you fight them, even briefly? Less than a day, but enough to smash those mangy dogs squatting in someone else's home. Would you join me? Earn your keep. Want to stay? Fight. Can't run forever."
Granting power.
It was a devilishly sweet temptation.
Falling for it meant brutal combat alongside him.
Yet they yearned to take that hand.
Out of sheer frustration.
"Decide now. Eat this ritual meal deliciously. Join me to hunt the squatters occupying the apartments. Or keep fleeing like always, vanishing unnoticed. Your choice."
The Fixer didn't perform the rite. He merely offered the meal with a final ultimatum.
Eating granted fighting strength.
But risk death in battle.
The power was temporary; failure meant instant dissipation.
They'd face the dream placenta manipulating anomalies and its mysterious summoner.
But staying put meant someone would resolve it eventually.
Waiting passively for disaster's end seemed the smart play.
But if waiting changed nothing?
If they could no longer live here?
-Can't fail to earn our keep forever.
Idling lost everything. Idling again was for fools.
A burly-looking soul brushed past the Fixer toward the table.
Affinity: 0% → 30%
They acknowledge your words.
They refuse to just take it lying down.
One fell, and like a mob incited, ghosts surged toward the table.
They snatched food by the handful, shouting without pause.
-This is our home!
-Who do these rolling stones think they are, displacing us!
-No forgiveness. Absolutely none! We'll kill them!
The souls who ate vented fury, burning with zeal.
Their status windows soon changed.
Temporary empowerment from emotional surge.
They were no longer aimless wanderers.
📛 Name:Ritual Rice Ghost
⚠️ Danger Level:Alert
🏷️ Classification:Thoughtform, Site-Bound Spirit, Guardian Apparition
📜 Basis:Souls of the departed who remembered what to protect
🛡️ Exorcism Method:Destroy their haunt or resolve their grudges
He had succeeded in awakening the will-less souls.
Quest Complete!
-You awakened the helpless souls.
-Rewards granted.
As the quest resolved, a long IV tube with needles at both ends dropped before the Fixer.
It seemed designed for direct blood sharing between people.
📛 Name:'#Binding Entity-45' Life-Sharing IV
⚠️ Danger Level:Alert
🏷️ Classification:Medical Item, Quarantined Object, Lost Property
📜 Basis:Failed perpetual preservation item, one of the 'Mental Hospital' exports lost by the Anomaly Management Department
📖 Usage:Pierce the needles at both ends into each other to share life force
An item for sharing one's life force with another.
Like the Silent Codex, another tool-type anomaly lost by the Department.
Thrilled at the highly useful support item, the Fixer grinned widely and shouted to the Ritual Rice Ghosts.
"Alright, everyone up! Meal's over—let's head to the tenth floor fast."
The sated ghosts rose one by one, eagerly clearing paths.
The dream placenta had picked the wrong foes.
To punish humanity's mockery, the Fixer had rallied every humanoid anomaly in the apartments.
The iron fist of eviction would now fall on those who arbitrarily occupied the One Heart True Intent Apartments.